


Mice and Men

by Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Backstory, Fifteen Minute Fic, Foreshadowing, Friendship, Gen, Irony, Male Friendship, Remixed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-19
Updated: 2004-04-19
Packaged: 2018-02-20 16:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/pseuds/Elizabeth%20Culmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, Tom Riddle and Alastor Moody made plans for the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mice and Men

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet was inspired by the 4/18/04 [15minuteficlets](http://15minuteficlets.livejournal.com) word #51. It has been rendered AU by information revealed in HBP.

"What do you want to do with your life?" asked Alastor. "After Hogwarts, I mean."

Tom propped his chin on his hands. "I never thought about it."

"Never? I want to be an Auror," said Alastor. "Somebody has to keep order, fight bastards like Grindelwald. You can never be too careful. But you've really never thought about it?"

"Really."

Alastor rolled over on his bed and looked upside-down at Tom. "Why not?"

Tom shrugged. How could he explain that until the owl this summer he'd never thought that he even had a future? He was just the freak in the orphanage -- no background, no prospects, nothing but a name and a tendency for strange things to happen around him.

"I just didn't," he said.

"Well, you should start," declared Alastor. "I know you were raised by Muggles, but your mother was a witch, at least, and the Marvolos were a respected family. And you're smart and good at magic. You could go far, and it's a crime for a good wizard to keep himself down, my father says. You have to keep watch for opportunity and grab it."

Tom turned upside-down to stare properly at Alastor. "You really think I could go far?"

"Sure," said Alastor. "You'll have the power, won't you? Why not do something with it?"

"Maybe."

Alastor pulled a fish-face, which looked even uglier than usual with his hair hanging away from his forehead. "No maybe about it. Go on, be an Auror like me. We'll be the best ever, the strongest, and no one'll ever stop us. Moody and Riddle, that's us. And we can start tonight -- my cousin Ethelred knows how to get into the Restricted Section, and I bet there are all sorts of interesting books there. What do you say?"

Be the best, the strongest. Have a real family name, something that belonged to him. And nobody would laugh at him again, nobody would push him around and call him a freak.

"I like it," said Tom. "Count me in."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was remixed by **[ishafel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ishafel)** in [Remix Redux 7: Do you feel lucky?](http://remixredux09.livejournal.com/), as **[Mice and Men (The Best Laid Plans Remix)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/76289)**.


End file.
